


Scarlet Train to Nowhere

by skullsandfairylights



Category: Cats - Andrew Lloyd Webber
Genre: Drabble, Original Character(s)
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-04-01
Updated: 2018-04-01
Packaged: 2019-04-16 11:50:07
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14164215
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/skullsandfairylights/pseuds/skullsandfairylights
Summary: Tugger confuses his owner. Mistofelees just wants to sleep.





	Scarlet Train to Nowhere

**Author's Note:**

> So this is the first piece of writing that I have done in a LONG time. It's not beta read, I scanned through it while reading, but there may still be mistakes - if so, let me know and I can edit them. 
> 
> This drabble idea came to me when I was listening to music while making dinner and a song from CATS came on and this idea came into my head. I then just had to write it and somehow I managed to finish it, which is something that rarely ever happens. 
> 
> To be honest, Tugger and Mistofelees don't have that big of parts in this, but they were the main focus/idea when I started out so I'm sticking to my guns. 
> 
> I hope you enjoy reading :)

“Tugger!”

The young girl’s voice was half drowned out by the excited chatter of other passengers. The passengers were all busy gossiping amongst each other and most didn’t notice the cat with an extravagant mane as it prowled down the corridor. At each compartment, it paused, peering inside the doors which had been left ajar, scratching at the doors left closed until they were opened. The car appeared to be searching for something, and every time it discovered that they compartment didn’t hold what it desired, it moved on, leaving the passengers inside with a flick of its tail and confused expressions on their faces.

“Tugger, I mean it! Come back here!” The girl’s voice was becoming more and more exasperated as she continued to push past the travellers hanging around in the corridor.  The cat reached the end of carriage and glanced back at the girl for a moment. It gave her a scrutinising look before it sat down and waited for her to approach.

“There you are, boy, why did you run off like that?” She said with a heavy sigh, “You really scared me, Tug.” Tugger tilted his head at the girl before giving a loud meow. “Enough of that, come on, let’s get back to our compartment.” She bent down to pick up the troublesome cat, but as soon as she had her hands around his middle, Tugger suddenly arched his back and hissed which caused his owner to recoil. “What’s wrong, Tugger?” The cat meowed again and looked towards the door which led to the next carriage.

“You want to go to the next carriage?” She asked the cat with a frown. Tugger meowed and almost appeared to nod. Glancing around the corridor, she was glad to find that no one was around to see this, surely, odd exchange and gave a loud exhale as she said, “Alright, fine.”

Once the pair had safely made it into the next carriage, Tugger immediately began his actions again, peering into every compartment. This time, though, his owner walked alongside him, not chasing him from a few feet away and was watching the cat’s actions carefully.  

Eventually, though, she grew tired. She, or rather they had both, been travelling for the better part of the day. One of the downsides to living out in the middle of the country. “Tugger, can we please stop now? You might have been able to sleep on the drive to the station, but I had been hoping to sleep on the train.” Tugger ignored her as he approached the second to last compartment in the carriage.

All of a sudden, Tugger sprang into action, disappearing out of sight into the compartment. “Tugger!” She exclaimed, leaping forward in a failed attempt to catch him. When she looked inside, she was surprised by what she saw. Tugger had hopped up onto the plush seat next to a jet-black cat who had been very peacefully snoozing. At least he was, until Tugger started to headbutt the other cat lightly in the side.

“Is he your cat?” Another voice asked. Sitting opposite the cats, was another young girl. She had set herself up beside the small table which was covered in a pack of playing cards and a few sweetie wrappers.

“Yeah, I’m really sorry. He’s never done this before.”

“It’s alright, cats can be unpredictable at times.” The girl smiled. “I’m Lizzy.”

“I’m Kara. It’s nice to meet you” Both girls glanced over at the cats to find that the Tugger had successfully woken the other cat and that now they were both rubbing up against each other, purring softly. “Looks like someone’s made a friend.”

“Yeah, it’s almost like they already know each other.” Lizzy joked. “So, what’s his name?”

“Tugger. I know it’s weird, but, it’s what he responds to. What about yours?”

“Mistofelees. Tugger’s an interesting name, why’d you choose it?”

Kara let out a soft laugh as she took a seat next to Lizzy, “It’s going to sound crazy, but I didn’t pick it. He did.” Lizzy frowned and let out a soft noise of confusion. “Okay, so I didn’t have a cat until like a month ago. He just turned up on our doorstep one night and wouldn’t leave. He didn’t have a collar, but we took him to the vet to see if he belonged to anyone. No one had reported any missing cats so eventually we adopted him. We tried calling him Leo at first but he didn’t seem to like it, he’d ignore whenever we tried calling him that. So we tried a bunch of different names but he didn’t respond to any of them. Then he just _told_ me his name.”

“He talked to you?”

“Well, no. He didn’t talk, it was even weirder than that. He knocked over his food bowl and used the dry pellets to spell out Tugger. I thought I was going crazy. My parents didn’t believe me, but they just seemed happy that Tugger was finally responding to something. I don’t think they cared how he got the name.”  Kara explained. The cats had now stopped bumping heads and started meowing very softly with each other. “So, how’d you pick Mistofelees?”

Lizzy smiled and looked down into her lap for a moment. “It’s nowhere near as interesting as yours. But when I was a kid, my mum used to read me these poems to help me go to sleep. They were all about different cats, and one of my favourite poems was one about a magical cat called Mr Mistofelees.” Lizzy pulled her bag onto the seat next to her and started to rummage around in the main pocket. A moment later, she pulled out a small worn book. The faded title read ‘Old Possum’s Book of Practical Cats’ and the cover boasted a picture of various cats crowded in what appeared to be a junkyard.

Lizzy flicked through the book before settling on a page and passing it to Kara. The title read ‘Mr Mistofelees’ and most of the page was taken up by the poetic words. However, in the corner, there was a picture of a small black cat with white paws. Kara’s eyes flicked between the drawing and the cat in front of her. There was a slight resemblance, she supposed.

“It’s strange though.” Lizzy suddenly stated.

“What is?”

“Well, Mistofelees and Tugger seem to be getting on really well. And there’s actually a poem in that book about a cat called Rum Tum Tugger.” Lizzy laughed as she took the book back and turned to the right page, “It’s an awful big coincidence, don’t you think?”

Kara looked at the pages which now held the poem ‘Rum Tum Tugger’ and was struck at how the small picture in the corner resembled her cat. “Yeah, I guess it is.”

Suddenly, a new head popped into the compartment. It was an older boy, though he couldn’t have been any older than 18. He wore a large, bright smile as he said, “Hi girls, just to let you know that we should be arriving soon.” His eyes quickly scanned their attire. “You might want to change into your robes, there won’t be much time to change before the Welcome Feast.”

The girls nodded and thanked him before he shut the compartment door and disappeared down the corridor. Both girls reached into their bags and pulled out their robes, glad that they had made their clothes easily accessible when they had been packing. Lizzy pressed a small button and the compartment windows fogged over, giving them privacy from the outside world.

When the girls were ready, they settled back into their seats and were soon deeply engaged in a conversation about what would happen when they would finally arrive. It wasn’t long before they completely forgot about the other inhabitants in the carriage.

 _“I still can’t believe you’re_ _here, Tugger.”_

_“Of course, I’m here. I wasn’t about to let you disappear for a year. What would the others think if I let you come here all be yourself?”_

_“I’m not a kitten anymore, Tugger. Besides, this place is going to be good for me. I will be able to practice magic in peace.”_

_“I know you can look after yourself, Mist. But I would have missed you too much.”_ Tugger bumped his head purposefully against Mistofelees. The other cat stared for a moment before smiling.

 _“Come here.”_ The black cat curled on the seat, motioning for the older cat to him join. Tugger smiled and wrapped himself around Mistofelees. _“You’re such a softie when you aren’t changing your mind every two seconds.”_

_“Only for you. I could never change my mind about you.”_

**Author's Note:**

> Thanks for reading until the end! 
> 
> If you liked what you read then I would appreciate a Kudos or a comment. If not, that's cool.  
> Feel free to leave constructive criticism. I haven't tried writing any fiction in a very long time and would love to get back into it and would love feedback on how I can improve. 
> 
> If you want, you can also contact me via Tumblr (I am on pretty much all the time) at skullsandfairylights.tumblr.com


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